The Lady From Another World
by PartSpace
Summary: All Hugh wanted to do was have a quiet night at the pub. Maybe meet a nice, normal lady. But the lady he met was anything but normal. And she called herself a Doctor.


If Hugh Keates was able to move about in time, and if he were able to look back on that night and decide whether or not to visit that pub where he met the strange woman, truth be told he still would have gone. He would have worn more sensible shoes, for one, and a shirt of which he was less fond. But one doesn't go to the pub in sensible shoes and a shirt one doesn't mind having destroyed, so he could hardly have planned accordingly for the strange woman. Man. Difficult to say, even in retrospect.

_Alien_. That fits. The strange alien.

He was cheerfully buzzed by the time he and the lovely brunette agreed to exchange phone numbers. Her name was Elizabeth, and her skin was the color of coffee with just the right amount of cream added. She typed his number into her phone while Hugh began searching his pockets in vain for his own mobile. Then he remembered. He'd left it charging in his car outside.

Hugh apologized profusely and promised to return as soon as he retrieved it. Of course, he did not return as soon as he retrieved it.

He was starting to get the hang of the pub scene again. The whole being single scene. The few pints certainly helped his confidence, but he still could hear Philippa's voice in the back of his head. The old Philippa, the one he married, not the one who decided that Darryl Pursel could give her a better life.

_Darryl Pursel_. To hell with Darryl Pursel, and his big house in the country, and his nice car and retirement fund and his "attentiveness" to her needs, and to hell with Philippa.

Hugh grimaced, rubbing his face with his hand as he fished out his car keys. He was not going to think about them. Joey finally convinced him to come out and meet some girls. Of course, Joey disappeared the moment Hugh'd hit it off with the pretty Elizabeth. He'd have to slow down on the drinks if he was going to be driving himself home. Or Elizabeth. Was he doing that well? He hadn't dated in ten years, hadn't been with anyone but Philippa for fifteen. Good heavens, what had he gotten himself into?

Hugh found his confidence rapidly disappearing as he sat in the driver's seat of his Honda and dug through the cup holders for his phone. This was a mistake. This was all a bloody mistake. He turned the keys in his hands thoughtfully before he finally slid them into the ignition. He was just considering buckling himself in and making a slow careful escape home when a woman came out of nowhere and threw herself against his windshield.

Hugh jumped, letting out a shout of alarm. The woman, wild eyed with brown hair in her face, shrieked back at him and stumbled away into the darkness of a burnt out street lamp.

He let out a hissing curse, hopping out of the car again. The woman had doubled over and collapsed, and was now rolling on the pavers, holding her stomach and rocking side to side, muttering to herself. She was all of five feet tall, wore a men's tweed jacket, black combat boots, and, most oddly, a red bow tie around her throat.

"Are you all right?" Hugh jogged over to the woman.

She sat up suddenly, frowning, eyeing him suspiciously. "You didn't hit me with your car, did you? No. You were standing still. I was moving. It was the other way 'round. I thought for a moment…" Her blue eyes narrowed, looking off, unsuccessfully trying to collect her thoughts. She looked back at him. "I'm confused. Is my voice right?"

Hugh stared at her, and then grimaced. His brother Evan was a nurse. Evan was under the impression that ever since he became a nurse, medical emergencies liked to follow him. He had a woman go into labour in front of him on the afternoon train. The man who had a heart attack behind him in the bank queue. The elderly woman who went into diabetic shock while he sat at a red light.

Hugh Keats worked at a mental health care facility in Croydon. "Are you hurt? What's your name?" He helped the dazed woman to her feet.

She frowned, turning in a circle, pulling at her ill fitting clothes, and then faced him, looking up at him. "Why are you so tall?" Her head shook in disbelief, turning to take a few steps away from him. "You're very tall. Something is wrong. I can't see…" She trailed off, then pulled her long hair from her face. "Well, that is better, isn't it? Doesn't help in the long run. Is my voice right? Or is it my ears?" She spun back to him, "Why is my hair so long?"

Hugh glanced back at the pub, then at the unstable woman. "I can help you, all right? Calm down a moment and tell me your name."

The woman in the tweed coat continued to pace in the middle of the street, towards him and then away, ranting to herself. "I couldn't have. Could I have? Everything is so _tall_. No. Nooo." She stepped up onto the curb and paused to take in her surroundings from a few inches higher. After a long pause with narrowed eyes, she said again, "Noooo…." The woman spun quickly back to Hugh, eyes popping wide, "Amy!"

"Your name is Amy?"

She blinked at him, and her pale eyes focused on him as if seeing him for the first time. Then she scowled. "What? No. Do I look like an Amy? Don't be ridiculous." She stepped off the curb and walked towards him, holding out her hand. "I'm the Doctor. Blimey, you're _tall_."

Hugh tilted his head slowly, then took the offered hand, "I'm six foot even."

"What?" She stepped back, looking him over. "Nooo. I'm six foot. I measured. Well. Nearly. Nobody counts those last two." She looked down at herself, digging through her pockets.

Hugh drew in a deep breath, shaking his head. She kept side tracking him. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm muddled. Befuddled. Addled. It's-… It'll pass, give me a moment." She danced away from him, back towards his sad little car, pointing. "I was coming here for something. I couldn't see because of the hair. Why is my hair so long? Have I Rip Van Winkled? No. No beard. Shame that. Always wanted a beard. Never had the patience to grow one out." She stared at his car a few moments in silence, then moved again, quick as an excited fish, into his car and closed the door behind her.

"OY!" Hugh jumped into action now, leaping after her, pulling on the locked door. He left his keys in the ignition. Moron. "That is my car! Open up!"

The woman, the Doctor, was rifling through his car, in search of something. She opened up the glove box, throwing the car manual and registration on the passenger's seat. She moved onto a plastic bag he kept inside for trash, dumping its contents onto the floor mat, picking up a paper cup and looking inside. "Looking for something," she muttered to herself. "I was coming here looking for something."

Hugh pounded on the windows, watching helplessly as she made a mess of his Honda. "If I have to call the police, I will!" His phone was inside the car, too. Bloody moron. "Get out of my car!"

The Doctor flipped down the visors next, spilling old football and movie tickets into her lap, and then she stopped. She was staring at her reflection in the visor mirror, and remained that way, perfectly still for a full three minutes before her head fell back with a long groan.

"Oy," Hugh tapped on the window until she looked at him with a sour expression. "This is my car."

The Doctor scowled at him, eyes narrowed. Finally, she opened the door and stepped out. "Is this your fault?" She was walking towards him now with menace. Hugh, despite having a foot and three stone on the woman, stumbled back from her, hands held up in surrender.

"What?"

"Is this your doing? Did you see this happen? How did this happen, who are you? Where am I?"

Hugh took in a deep breath, keeping his hands up in a more calming gesture. "Look, just calm down, all right? I can help you. My name is Hugh. And you're in London. Regent's Park is right that way."

Her demeanor changed instantly, heart shaped face splitting into a huge grin, "Regent's Park! I love Regent's Park." Then she was scowling again, shaking her head. "I wasn't at Regent's Park. Where was I?" She stepped back, leaning against his car again with a furrowed brow.

"I can help you," he said again.

"Are you a doctor?" she looked back at him now, one brow arched.

"I'm a counselor."

"That's like a doctor."

"Not-…"

"Doctor Hugh!" She was grinning again, and then started laughing. "Inside joke. Sorry. Don't mind me. Blimey!" She walked towards him again, "I must look completely mental right now." Her head shook, long hair falling into her face again. "It's… I think it's the regeneration, but it's not the regeneration because it can't be regeneration." Her shoulders sagged and she wailed at the heavens, "I'm a _girl_!"

Hugh stared at her. "I-… I can help you," he said yet again, not having the slightest idea of what else to say.

She spun back to him, nodding, "You do want to help, don't you? You're a good chap. I like you, Hugh." She said his name methodically, pronouncing every letter carefully as if tasting it. "You have no idea what is going on, who I am, what's happened, and yet you keep on saying that you want to help me. I could certainly use your help, Hugh, and I am going to accept it because Amy…" She trailed off, eyes narrowing as she groped at the memory with desperate mental fingers. "Amy and… _Rory_. Date night." The Doctor snapped her fingers and pointed at Hugh. "Dropped them off on Jaxtequo. 3099. THE place to be in 3099. They have this one club, overlooking this massive ocean of-no." She grabbed her head suddenly. "Getting distracted. Something is wrong, Hugh, something is very very wrong and I'm muddled and befuddled and addled and I need to focus." She dropped her arms and looked back at Hugh with a furious expression. "Slap me."

"What?"

"Slap me."

Hugh stammered a moment, "I'm not slapping a girl."

The Doctor's face twisted up a moment, as if to tell Hugh he was being a complete idiot, then she stopped, shifting emotions again in an instant, "Oh. I am a girl, aren't I? Remind me not to drink anything; I don't need the confusion of what to do when it comes out the other end. No." She shook her head furiously again, spinning away from him and letting out a low groan as she continued to struggle with whatever million thoughts were stirred up inside her head. She began slapping her own face, then shook her head in dismay, "Not the same. Never thought it would be so hard to get someone to slap me."

Hugh glanced over his shoulder at the pub. A handful of patrons had spilled out into the street, watching him try to placate the raving madwoman.

"Look, can I give you a ride somewhere?"

Her arms dropped and she turned back to him. "No. No. Yes! I need you to take me to the library." The Doctor let out a bark of triumphant laughter, and jogged to the passenger side of his car. "Come along."

"The library?" Hugh blinked at her, then shook his head. "It's closed at this hour."

"I have a key." She buckled herself in and drummed her hands on her thighs. She looked up at him expectantly. "Are you going to make me walk? A lady like me? All alone on the streets at this hour?"

Hugh scowled at her, and then climbed into the driver's seat. Ten minutes later, they arrived at the Regent's Park Library, and the Doctor leapt from the car and ran up the stairs. She fished a little silver tool from her pocket, and held it in front of the lock.

"See? Closed. Let me take you home, make you some coffee."

"You still think I'm an ordinary person, don't you, Hugh?" The Doctor smiled over her shoulder at him. She gave the big wooden door a gentle push, and it swung open easily. "Time to change the way you see the world."


End file.
